One in five shops in the North East is vacant, according to a new study that is the latest to raise alarm bells over the strength of the region’s economy.
The report by the British Retail Consortium (BRC) and the Local Data Company found that 19.9% of shops in the region were vacant at the end of last year, the highest rate in the UK.
The North East also saw the largest rise in the number of vacant shops, with that rise coming counter to a fall in most other areas. The study is the latest where worrying data has come at the same time that other parts of the country are seeing improvements as they start to recover from the pandemic.
